Andrew Taylor was born in Tynemouth[2] and raised in the town of Cullercoats, Northumberland in North East England, and attended Marden High School.[3] He began playing guitar at the age of eleven and was soon playing with local bands, even producing one at the age of 16. He received guitar tuition from Dave Black, a member of the short-lived, post-David Bowie version of Bowie's sometime backing band The Spiders from Mars.[4] He dropped out of school early to tour England and Europe with several different bands, playing working men's clubs and air force bases.[3] Then in April 1980, as Taylor puts it, "I made that fateful train journey down to Birmingham."
Duran Duran
Duran Duran began their rise to fame at a Birmingham club named the Rum Runner. The club was owned by their managers and mentors, brothers Paul and Michael Berrow. It was centred on the music and ostentatious fashion of the era, particularly disco music, which had fused with punk and electronic to create the sound and look adopted by various "New Romantic" acts of the time.
Andy Taylor joined the band in April 1980 and has been credited for playing a vital role in shaping and developing their early songs, working creatively with Nick Rhodes playing around the keyboardist's patterns and solidifying the melodies, and assisting in forming the band's "rough, undisciplined mixture[s]" of punk, disco and electronic styles into tight, cohesive structures.[5]
The band signed to EMI Records in December 1980, only seven months after completing their line-up. Their debut single "Planet Earth" was released shortly after that, with their self-titled debut album, Duran Duran, released in June 1981. By 1983, the band was a global success story.
The Power Station and Robert Palmer
Taylor (far right) with the Power Station in 1985.
While Duran Duran were on hiatus in 1985, Andy Taylor and bassist John Taylor joined renowned session drummer and former Chic member Tony Thompson and Robert Palmer to form the Power Station. Their eponymous album, recorded mostly at the New York studio after which the band was named, reached the top 20 in the UK and top 10 in the US, spawning two hit singles with "Some Like It Hot" (UK number 14, US number 6) and a cover of the T. Rex song "Get It On (Bang a Gong)" (UK number 22, US number 9). Palmer performed live with the band only once that year, on Saturday Night Live. The band toured and even played Live Aid with singer Michael Des Barres after Palmer bowed out at the last moment to go back into the studio to further his newly revitalized solo career. Taylor also performed with Duran Duran at the Live Aid event.
Palmer recorded the album Riptide in 1985, recruiting Thompson and Andy Taylor to play on some tracks and Power Station producer Bernard Edwards, who worked with Thompson in the group Chic, to lead the production. Palmer recruited Wally Badarou, another Compass Point Star, who had laid synthesizer tracks on the Power Station album plus his long-term drummer, Dony Wynn, for this production as well.
Taylor said: "I don't think any of us could have known at the time that this little venture would lead to the breakup of DD but it did or at least it exposed the cracks in the pavement. I think we were all surprised at the amount of success the project achieved, particularly Robert, whose career was reignited in the USA. It was an extraordinary time, everything we were associated with just flew off the shelves. As well as being the opportunity to express a major musical statement, I guess it was also as much of a statement against the label demands."
Solo and production
After six years of being a member of Duran Duran, Taylor had realized both the band and he were in freefall. He and the other members rarely spoke to each other with the band now living on three different continents. Taylor himself was based in Los Angeles, where he met with ex-Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones and they began collaborating for Taylor's forthcoming solo album.
In the meantime, he recorded the hit single "Take It Easy" (US number 24), which was used as the theme song for the movie American Anthem. Ex-Missing Persons members Terry Bozzio and Patrick O'Hearn performed drums and bass, respectively, on the song and video. Two other songs by Taylor and Jones also appeared on the album: "Wings of Love" and the instrumental "Angel Eyes". Taylor also contributed to the Miami Vice II soundtrack with the song "When the Rain Comes Down" (US number 43), as well as making an appearance on said show with Power Station in 1985, season two, episode three titled "Whatever Works". It was followed by his first solo album, Thunder (1987). O'Hearn again played bass for him on the album and during the following tour. Also on the Thunder world tour were guitarist Paul Hanson (guitarist) and drummer John Valen. Hanson, Valen and O'Hearn also appeared with Taylor in the music video for the second single from the Thunder album, "Don't Let Me Die Young". Despite moderate success in the US, Taylor's solo material failed to catch on in his native UK.
Throughout 1987 and 1988, Taylor co-wrote and co-produced Rod Stewart's multi-platinum album Out of Order along with Chic members Bernard Edwards and Tony Thompson (the latter of whom had also performed with him in Power Station), spawning the Billboard hits, "Lost in You", "Forever Young", and "My Heart Can't Tell You No".
Taylor also contributed a cover of "Dead on the Money" to the Tequila Sunrise soundtrack in 1988. (Taylor's former band Duran Duran also allowed one of their own songs, "Do You Believe in Shame?", to be included on the album.) A second solo album, consisting of entirely cover versions, entitled Dangerous, was released in 1990.
Taylor then moved on to producing full time, working with several successful UK bands during the 1990s. He produced the debut album Back Street Symphony by London rockers Thunder and their follow up Laughing on Judgement Day. It was followed by the Almighty album Soul Destruction and then Mark Shaw's album Almost. Taylor based himself in his now refurbished Trident Studios in London with then manager and partner Rob Hallett until 1994 when he returned to Los Angeles to write and produce tracks for a second Power Station album and the 1995 Rod Stewart album A Spanner in the Works.
Reunions
Taylor participated in the 1994 reunion of Power Station. They recorded a second album Living in Fear for EMI. During the course of this album, Bernard Edwards died in his hotel room after a Chic gig in Tokyo. The band were shellshocked at his sudden death, but vowed to continue as a trio and complete the project. They subsequently finished the album with Canadian engineer/producer Mike Fraser, with a Japanese and US tours to follow to promote the record.
In 2000, Taylor reunited with the other original members of Duran Duran to record their first new music together since 1985. The band secured a new recording contract with Sony Records. Their ensuing album, 2004 Astronaut, featured a blend of Taylor's heavy guitar with the synth hooks of the classic Duran Duran sound. The first single, "(Reach Up for The) Sunrise", reached number five in the UK, and the album reached number three (number 17 in the US).
Months prior to the album's release, the band played their largest-ever UK tour in the spring of 2004, which was followed by a world tour in 2005, including Asia, Europe, South America, and North America. The band also performed at Live 8.
In 2006, whilst recording a new Duran Duran album, Taylor once again parted ways with the band. The subsequent album, titled Reportage, was scrapped by the band after his departure. More recently, Taylor strongly hinted in his blogs that Duran Duran's management company were partly responsible for his departure. This was confirmed when The Sunday Times (UK) printed a retraction on 4 May 2008.[6]
A short controversy followed as Taylor wrote in his 2008 autobiography that there was no "blunt message"[clarification needed] and that in addition to the problems of writing and recording Reportage, old conflicts between other band members and himself had resurfaced. The other band members have maintained their version, in which Andy Taylor's chronic inexplicable absences are pointed out. The band issued a statement in the wake of his departure, stating they "will be continuing as Duran Duran without Andy, as we have reached a point in our relationship with him where there is an unworkable gulf between us and we can no longer effectively function together".
In 2019, Andy ended his 13-year hiatus from music and started to tour again, releasing a new single.[7]
After touring with British rock band Reef in 2020, Taylor went on to produce their new album Shoot Me Your Ace, which was released in April 2022.[8][9][10]
In March 2023 Taylor rejoined Duran Duran to record a new album, Danse Macabre, which was released in November of 2023.[11] Taylor also released Man's a Wolf to Man, his first solo effort in 33 years.
RockAffairs
In November 2007, Taylor co-founded RockAffairs.com alongside Sarah Eaglesfield, the former Flightside vocalist and webmistress at duranduran.com. RockAffairs was developed to allow unsigned artists to sell MP3s and merchandise, promote their band and keep 100% of the profit. It also pioneered a maverick profit share scheme where all income from listener signups was distributed amongst bands who sign up for the scheme.
In June 2008, Taylor handed control of the website over to Eaglesfield. As of 2017, Taylor remains the owner of RockAffairs Ltd in the UK.[12] Rockaffairs has announced it will be returning for one week of special 10th-anniversary broadcasts during summer 2018.[13]
Autobiography
In 2008, Taylor published an autobiography, Wild Boy: My Life in Duran Duran, in which he tells his life's story from youth in an extended family to his life with wife Tracey. The book aims to give a backstage look on Duran Duran's rise and a survey of the band's career album by album, as well as of Taylor's solo works and collaborations. It also deals with the iconic status of Duran Duran in the time of early MTV and the band's issues with drugs and alcohol.
Personal life
In 2022, Taylor stated that he has been married to his wife Tracey for 40 years. They have four children.[14] The couple currently reside in Ibiza, Spain.[14]
When Duran Duran were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2022, Taylor was unable to attend the ceremony. During the event, Simon Le Bon read part of a letter that Taylor had written revealing he had been diagnosed with stage4 metastatic prostate cancer four years prior and a recent setback kept him from attending.[15] The letter was later posted to the band's website, in which Taylor said his condition is incurable but not immediately life-threatening.[14]
"Love or Liberation" (2019) with Gary Stringer of Reef – written by Taylor and Ricky Warwick on the hundredth day of Donald Trump's presidency, part of the lyrics say, "One hundred days of madness. Who's keeping score?"[20]
"Influential Blondes" (from the album Man's a Wolf to Man) is "about the rise of fascism in the modern world."[20]
Bibliography
Taylor, Andy (2008). Wild Boy – My Life in Duran Duran. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN978-0446509305.
Duran Duran are an English pop rock band formed in Birmingham in 1978 by singer Stephen Duffy, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and guitarist/bassist John Taylor. With the addition of bassist Simon Colley and drummer Roger Taylor the following year, the band went through numerous personnel changes before May 1980, when they settled on their most famous line-up by adding guitarist Andy Taylor and lead vocalist Simon Le Bon.
Roger Andrew Taylor is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the new wave band Duran Duran from their inception until 1985, and again from 2001 onwards. Duran Duran have sold over 100 million records worldwide. Taylor was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in November 2022 as a member of Duran Duran.
Nigel John Taylor is a British musician who is best known as the bass guitarist for new wave band Duran Duran, of which he was a founding member. Duran Duran was one of the most popular bands in the world during the 1980s due in part to their music videos which played in heavy rotation in the early days of MTV. Taylor played with Duran Duran from its founding in 1978 until 1997, when he left to pursue a solo recording and film career. He recorded a dozen solo releases through his private record label B5 Records over the next four years, had a lead role in the movie Sugar Town, and made appearances in a half dozen other film projects. He rejoined Duran Duran for a reunion of the original five members in 2001 and has remained with the group since.
Arcadia were a British pop group formed in 1985 by Simon Le Bon, Nick Rhodes, and Roger Taylor of Duran Duran as a side project during a break in the band's schedule. The project was active only during 1985 and 1986 and for just one album, So Red the Rose, which was certified Platinum in the United States and included the singles "Election Day", "Goodbye Is Forever", "The Flame", and "The Promise". Drummer Roger Taylor appeared in only a few band photographs and one music video, and stated he was to be involved only in the recording side of the project.
Nick Rhodes is an English keyboardist and producer, best known as a founding member and the keyboardist of the band Duran Duran. He is also informally monikered as "the Controller", after being introduced as such on stage by bandmate Simon Le Bon during the Astronaut album world tours of 2004–2005.
Anthony Terrence Thompson was an American session drummer best known as the drummer of the Power Station and a member of Chic.
Robert Allen Palmer was an English singer and songwriter. He was known for his powerful, soulful voice and sartorial elegance, and his stylistic explorations, combining soul, funk, jazz, rock, pop, reggae, and blues. Over his four-decade career, Palmer is perhaps best known for the song "Addicted to Love" and its accompanying video, which came to "epitomise the glamour and excesses of the 1980s".
Terry John Bozzio is an American drummer best known for his work with Missing Persons and Frank Zappa. He has been featured on nine solo or collaborative albums, 26 albums with Zappa and seven albums with Missing Persons. Bozzio has been a prolific sideman, playing on numerous releases by other artists since the mid-1970s. He was inducted into the Modern Drummer Hall of Fame in 1997.
Bernard Edwards was an American bass player and record producer, known primarily for his work in disco music with guitarist Nile Rodgers, with whom he co-founded Chic. In 2017, Edwards was selected as the 53rd greatest bassist of all time by Bass Player magazine.
The Power Station were a British-American 1980s/1990s rock and pop music supergroup originally formed in New York City and London in 1984. It was made up of singer Robert Palmer, former Chic drummer Tony Thompson, and Duran Duran members John Taylor (bass) and Andy Taylor (guitar). Bernard Edwards, also of Chic, was involved on the studio side as recording producer and for a short time also functioned as the Power Station's manager. Edwards also replaced John Taylor on bass for the recording of the band's second album. The band was formed in New York City late in 1984 during a break in Duran Duran's schedule that became a lengthy hiatus. The Power Station was named after the Power Station recording studio in New York, where their first album was conceived and recorded.
Warren Bruce Cuccurullo is an American musician, songwriter, restaurant owner and former bodybuilder who first worked with Frank Zappa during the 1970s. He was also a founding member of Missing Persons in the 1980s. In 1986 Cuccurullo joined Duran Duran, becoming a long-term member of the band until 2001. In 2022, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Duran Duran.
Missing Persons is an American rock band founded in 1980 in Los Angeles by guitarist Warren Cuccurullo, vocalist Dale Bozzio, and drummer Terry Bozzio. They later added bassist Patrick O'Hearn and keyboardist Chuck Wild. Dale's quirky voice and heavy makeup made the band a favorite on MTV in the early 1980s.
Notorious is the fourth studio album by English rock band Duran Duran, released on 18 November 1986 by EMI Records. Produced by the band with Nile Rodgers, its musical style differed from the band's previous albums with a funk rock sound. It is the first album to feature the band as a trio with singer Simon Le Bon, keyboardist Nick Rhodes and bassist John Taylor as drummer Roger Taylor and guitarist Andy Taylor both left by the time the album was released. Andy Taylor would later be replaced by former Missing Persons guitarist Warren Curcurullo, who completed recording parts of the album in addition to Rodgers and session drummer Steve Ferrone.
The Power Station is the debut album by supergroup the Power Station, released in 1985 on Capitol Records. The album peaked at No. 6 on the US Billboard 200 and No. 12 on the UK Albums Chart. All three singles released from the album were Top 40 hits in the United States. An anniversary edition was released 21 February 2005, featuring 7 bonus tracks, as well as a 35-minute DVD.
Patrick John O'Hearn is an American multi-instrumentalist, composer, and recording artist.
Thunder is the debut solo album by British guitarist and former Duran Duran and Power Station member Andy Taylor, released in 1987 on MCA Records. It features former Sex Pistols guitarist Steve Jones on guitar.
Dangerous is a 1990 cover album by English guitarist Andy Taylor, who is most famous for his work in the band Duran Duran. It was a follow-up to his earlier solo album Thunder. To date, it was his most recent studio album although he released a new material in 1999, titled The Spanish Sessions EP, a collaborative album with Luke Morley, chief songwriter and guitarist of the English hard rock band Thunder. It would be Taylor's last solo album until 2023's Man's a Wolf to Man.
Chic, currently called Nile Rodgers & Chic, is an American disco band that was formed in 1972 by guitarist Nile Rodgers and bassist Bernard Edwards. It recorded many commercially successful disco songs, including "Dance, Dance, Dance " (1977), "Everybody Dance" (1977), "Le Freak" (1978), "I Want Your Love" (1978), "Good Times" (1979), and "My Forbidden Lover" (1979). The group regarded themselves as a rock band for the disco movement "that made good on hippie peace, love and freedom". In 2017, Chic was nominated for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for the eleventh time.
Living in Fear is the second and final studio album by the supergroup the Power Station, released in 1996.
Backstreet Symphony is the debut studio album by English hard rock band Thunder. Recorded in 1989 at Great Linford Manor Studios in Milton Keynes, it was produced by former Duran Duran and The Power Station guitarist Andy Taylor, then mixed by Mike Fraser at AIR Studios in London. The album was initially released on 5 March 1990 by EMI Records in the UK and Capitol Records in the US, and was later re-released the following year in the US by Geffen Records.
↑ Steve Malins The Wild Boys: The Unauthorized Duran Duran biography Andrew Heath 2013, chapter 3
↑ "Andy Taylor: An article about Duran Duran (Wild boys always shine, Culture, 4 November 2007), referring to Andy Taylor's departure, said he had failed to turn up for a recording session in New York and had sent a "blunt message . . . that he was leaving the band, with immediate effect". It was suggested that his departure was "still unexplained". Andy Taylor's departure from the band is the subject of continuing legal proceedings, but we wish to make clear that he was unable to get a US working visa to attend the New York recording session because of administrative failures by the band's management. His departure was not unexplained and he did not leave the band – the Duran Duran partnership was dissolved by the other members. We apologise and are happy to correct the record." Timesonline.co.uk
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